Infant&#39;s bathing appliance



Au 26, 1952 T, DE P 2,607,925

' INFANTS BATHING AP'PLI'ANCE Filed April 13, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 1N VEN TOR. CHARLES 7: DEPU Y .BYZ l- I l-IIS ATTORNEY Aug. 26, 1952 T, DE PUY 2,607,925

INFANTS BATHING APPLIANCE Filed April 15, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEE'I 2 INVENTOR. CHARLES z ospur HIS ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 26, 1952 INFANTS BATHING APPLIANCE Charles T. De Puy, Brighton, N. Y., assignor to Trimble, Inc., Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 13, 1950, Serial No. 155,643

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an infants bathing appliance, with particular reference to structures involving opposite parallel rails and a tub arranged therebetween having a body rest of flexible material supported by the rails and located above the bottom of the tub for holding an infant and maintaining the head of the infant safely above the water level, and it has for its purpose to afford a simple, inexpensive, and prac-- tical construction for maintaining the body rest in proper operative position and adjusting either end thereof to different elevations.

More particularly, the invention has to do with the type of construction in which a body rest of flexible material is provided with hems at opposite sides through which extend rods that project beyond the body rest at both ends and are supported in such fashion as to permit quick removability of the body rest for cleaning purposes, and a further object of the invention is to support the rods in a manner that prevents their accidental disengagement from the supporting means while at the same time permitting quick removal of the body rest from the tub.

A more specific purpose of the invention is to provide an attractive looking construction that supports the body rest by means of straps adjustably attached to the side rails and having loops which embrace the rods beyond the ends of the body rest, coupled with enlargements at the ends of the rods located in juxtarelation to the loops which are arranged between the enlargements and the ends of the tub rest, so that the rods are concealed from view and the tub rest and loops are held securely against accidental displacement endwise of the rods, which latter cannot be dislodged from the loops, the tub rest being easily removable from the side rails by disconnecting the adjustable means.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the. following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tub equipped with a body rest constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view of one of the caps secured to the ends of the body rest rods;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a tub and body rest incorporating a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same, and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 99 of Fig. 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views and to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, I and 2 designate pivotally connected metal legframes of a cross-legged folding stand including as part thereof wooden side rails 3 between which is supported the usual collapsible tub 4 constructed of any suitable flexible waterproof fabric.

Mounted within the tub is a body rest 5 formed of plastic material or other suitable flexible waterrepellent fabric, the body rest 5 including hems 6 at opposite sides through which extend rods 1 usually of cylindrical wooden form that serve to hold opposite edges of the body rest in parallel alinement and afford means for suspending the body rest, the rods 1 extending beyond the ends of the body rest 5 at both ends thereof, see Figs. 1, 2 and 5.

Various means have heretofore been proposed for supporting the body rest rods butin all such instances it has been impossible to prevent the rods from accidentally becoming disengaged or slipping out from the supporting means due to the fact that the rods have been inserted endwise into supporting devices consisting of loops, fabric pockets, or other similar instrumentalities, and in order to overcome such objection, the body rest rods according to the present invention are constructed in such manner or provided with such instrumentalities as prevents their disengagement from the supporting devices, the desired elevational adjustment of the body rest being attained by adjustable connections between supporting straps and the side rails. v

To accomplish this, the rods 1 are supported by straps 8, see Figs. 1 to 6, which are preferably constructed of resilient, flexible vinyl plastic material or other suitable rubber-like material, each strap 8 including aloop 9 that surrounds and closely embraces the rod 'l. Each loop 9 is arranged in juxtarelation to the adjacent end of the body rest between the end of the body rest and the end of the rod 1, and in order to prevent displacement of the body rest and loops 9 endwise of the rods 1, the rods are provided at their ends with enlargements that project outwardly there.- from and engage the loops 9 to prevent displacement of the loops endwise of the rods.

This is preferably accomplished by a cylindrical hollow cap I 0 preferably formed of resilient, flexible vinyl plastic material having interiorly arranged annular ribs 1 l spaced as shown inFig. 6, and at its outer end an exteriorly projecting the end of the rod 7 after assembly of the body,

rest and loop 9, and is retained tightly thereon by the frictional engagement between the outer left hand end thereof, referring to Figs. 1 and 2,

for a right-handed Mother, and where the Mother is left-handed, it is desirable to provide for vertical adjustment of the body rest at the opposite end, and in order to facilitate adjustment of the body rest at either end to different elevations, each strap 8 is provided at its outer end with a series of small spaced holes I3 arranged for engagement with a stud l4 fastened to the wooden side rail 3 and provided with a head 15 that holds the strap in adjusted position when it is forced over the head of the stud, the resiliency of the plastic strap being such as to permit the head 15 of the stud to pass through the somewhat smaller opening in the strap and to retain the latter while at the same time permitting the strap to be pulled away from the stud when sufiicient tension is applied, to permit adjustment to different elevations.

In the construction thus far described, by disengaging the four straps B from the studs 14, the body rest can be removed from the tub for cleaning purposes or when it is not to be used, and the straps 8 remain permanently attached to the rods 1 in the positions shown, the enlargements or caps III at the ends of the rods acting to maintain the loops 9, straps 8 and the flexible body rest 5 against endwise displacement or disengagement from the rods.

Referring to Figs. 7 to 9, there is shown a modification of the invention adapted to structures where it is desirable to have a connection permanently attached to the side rails of the tub, and in this form 16 designates wooden side rails between which the flexible tub I! is supported, I8 designates flexible connecting devices or straps which are secured to the wooden side rails I6 by suitable staples or attaching devices l9, while 20 designates a metal U-shaped plate overlying and covering the tops and sides of the wooden side rails I6 and serving to hold in place the tub I? and the connecting straps l8.

In order to permit adjustment of the body rest 2l, each supporting strap 22 includes a loop 23 surrounding and closely embracing a wooden rod 24 as previously described, and is provided with an adjusting device such as a buckle or fastener 26 which receives the inner end of the connecting strap l8. The connecting strap I8 is frictionally held by the buckle or fastener, 26 at any desired position of adjustment, and by this means the straps 22'can be elevated or lowered, at either end of the body rest, to support the same at any desired'elevation. When it is desirable to remove the body rest from the tub, the connecting straps iii are removed from the buckles 26 and the body rest is free to-be taken out from the tub for cleaning purposes, it being understood that the rods 24, the supporting straps 22, and the capsor enlargements 2! remain at all times attachedv to the body rest in the relation shown, and as previously described in connection with the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

While the invention has been described with reference to the details herein shown, it is not confined to the structures herein set forth, and this application is intended to cover such other modifications or departures as may come within the purposes of the invention and the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an infants bathing appliance including opposite side rails with a tub mounted therebetween, a body rest of flexible material located above the bottom of the tub at an angle to a horizontal plane and provided with separate parallel integral wooden cylindrical rods of uniform diameter throughout their length extending through hems at opposite sides of the body rest and beyond the latter at both ends thereof, supporting means at both ends of said rods comprising straps of flexible plastic material including loops at their inner ends surrounding and fitting closely on said rods and arranged in contiguous juxtarelation to the ends of the hems of the body rest, fastening means carried by the side rails, said straps being adjustably connected to said fastening means, said wooden rods extending beyond said loops, and hollow, cylindrical caps of flexible plastic material frictionally secured to the ends of said rods and having outwardly extending annular flanges located adjacent to said loops of the straps and acting to prevent displacement of the body rest and loops endwise of the rods.

2. In an infants bathing appliance including opposite side rails with a tub mounted therebetween, a body rest of flexible material located above the bottom of the tub at an angle to a horizontal plane and provided with separate parallel integral wooden cylindrical rods of uniform diameter throughout their length extending through hems at opposite sides of the body rest and beyond the latter at both ends thereof, supporting means at both ends of said rods comprising straps of flexible plastic material including loops at their inner ends surrounding and fitting closely on said rods and arranged in contiguous juxtarelation to the ends of the hems of the body rest, fastening means carried by the side rails, said straps being adjustably connected to said fastening means, said wooden rods extending beyond said loops, and hollow, cylindrical'caps of resilient, flexible plastic material having internal annular spaced ribs frictionally engaging the ends of the rods and having outwardly projecting annular flanges located adjacent to said loops of the straps and actingto prevent displacement of the'body rest and loops endwise of the rods. r

- CHARLES T. DE PUY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED sTArEs PATENTS Number Name 1 Date 177,700 Eisenmann May 23, 1876 1,199,831 Ewing, 0013'. 3,1916 1,450,827 WOOd Apr. 3,1923 

